Police search for statue bear-napped from Russell Stover factory

This bear statue was stolen earlier this month from outside the Russell Stover factory in Abilene, Kan. Screenshot: KSN-TV

ABILENE, Kan., Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Police in Kansas are on the hunt for a particular sweet stolen landmark -- a statue of a candy bear outside the Russell Stover factory.

Abilene police said the 3-1/2-foot-tall statue, which depicts a candy bear being coated in chocolate, was stolen in the late hours of Nov. 4 or early Nov. 5 from in front of the Russell Stover factory and candy store in Abilene.

Police said they are reviewing Department of Transportation traffic cameras to see if they contain any footage helpful to the investigation.

Russell Stover Plant Manager Paul Willis said the bear has become a popular landmark since it was donated to the facility by its former owners in the 1990s.

"It is a tourist kind of a landmark here in town," Willis told KSN-TV.

He said tourists often stop to snap photos with the bear.

"We actually built this patio because so many people did want to take pictures with it," Willis said. "We even put a sign, 'don't stand on the bear,' because we didn't want anyone to fall off."

Willis said there hasn't been any sign of the bear since its disappearance.

"No sign of it," he said. "We keep looking on Facebook to see if anybody has any pictures of it in their living room or their front porch."

"We don't know if it will show up on the beach somewhere in a Hawaiian shirt with a margarita or something else," Willis said.